Gloucester man gets his days in court

A disabled Gloucester veteran who gets around in a motor scooter has filed 10 lawsuits in local and federal courts since the summer of 2012 over access to businesses throughout Gloucester and the Peninsula.

Kenneth Flaum, 67, filed his first lawsuit in June 2012 against the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, according to records filed in U.S. District Court. In August 2012, Flaum filed suit against York River Crossing Associates, then last October he filed suit against Ollie's Bargain Outlets.

Lawsuits followed in January against Wendy's restaurants in Newport News and in September against Hillside Cinema and Gloucester Lanes, also known as Village Lanes, on John Clayton Memorial Highway just off of Main Street in the Gloucester Court House area.

The lawsuits follow a familiar pattern, court records show. Flaum, using the same Tolber Law Centre firm with offices in Charlottesville, Va., and Fort Lauderdale, Fl., files suit saying he is 100 percent disabled due to his military service, which included a stint in Vietnam.

Flaum's ailments include back fusions, rheumatoid arthritis and two hip replacements and he is substantially limited in performing "major life activities, including walking," according to court records.

In general, Flaum's lawsuits pinpoint access issues he encounters in parking lots, restrooms and elsewhere, according to court records. In the lawsuits filed by Flaum against Hillside Cinema and Gloucester Lanes, he described a host of architectural barriers that have impeded his ability to enjoy experiencing the amenities.

The barriers "limited his access to the defendants' property and to the goods, services, facilities, privileges and advantages offered at defendants' property, and have impaired his ability to park at defendants' facility, to view the movies, to reach the sales and service counters and to use the restroom facilities," his lawsuit says.

Flaum declined to answer questions about the lawsuits, though he did say he is not making any money off of the lawsuits but filing them on the principal of disabled access. Phone and email messages left for his attorney, Reed Tolber, were not returned.

Davis Bugg, the attorney for Village Lanes and Hillside Cinema owners Mahmood Kalantar and Belinda Kalantarzadeh, contends in court documents that Flaum "lacks standing to sue" and that his proposed remedies are "structurally impractical and unreasonable," according to court documents.

"The defendants affirmatively aver that the plaintiff's proposed relief and remedies are not readily achievable," Bugg wrote. The defendants asked the court to dismiss Flaum's cases and award them attorney's fees and costs, according to court documents.

The lawsuit against York River Crossing Associates was settled on Oct. 31, court records show, though the settlement details were not disclosed in court documents. Phone and email messages left for Robyn Hansen, the attorney representing York River Crossing Associates, were not returned.

Other lawsuits have also settled, including litigation against the Ollie's Bargain Outlets in Gloucester and Hampton, Williamsburg Outlets, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation and three Wendy's in Newport News. But settlement details of the other lawsuits were also not made public, according to court records.

Flaum moved to Gloucester in 2007 from Williamsburg, public records show. Before his military career, Flaum was an athletic young man —a baseball player good enough to be drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals.

In 1965, the 19-year-old Flaum, listed as 6-foot-1, 183 lbs., posted an 0-2 record with a 9.00 earned run average in the Florida Rookie League, according to baseballreference.com.

On Nov. 21, Flaum filed three more ADA lawsuits, federal court records show. The lawsuits were filed against York Lanes, a bowling alley in Yorktown, Patriots Square shopping center in Grafton, and 45 Waffle House restaurants across the state to include locations in Newport News and Hampton.

Disabled access lawsuits

Gloucester resident Kenneth Flaum has filed multiple lawsuits against businesses around the region over disabled access. Flaum has filed suit against Williamsburg Outlets, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Ollie's Bargain Outlets, Wendy's, Hillside Cinemas and Gloucester Lanes, records in U.S. District Court show. All of the lawsuits except the ones against Hillside Cinema and Gloucester Lanes — still pending — were settled before trial.